1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonvolatile memory.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, a nonvolatile memory device using ferroelectric material has been getting attention in the industry, and several structures of the device and circuit configurations for the device have been proposed. FIG. 1 shows a structure of a nonvolatile memory cell which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,733. In the figure, a transistor 18 and a transistor 20 are connected to both sides of a ferroelectric capacitor 2. Gates of the transistor 18 and the transistor 20 are connected with a word line 8. Also, a source of the transistor 18 is connected to a bit line 14, and a source of the transistor 20 is connected with a bit line 16.
The ferroelectric capacitor 2 is polarized when a certain voltage is applied between the bit line 14 and the bit line 16 after turning on the transistor 18 and the transistor 20. Polarization of the ferroelectric capacitor 2 is maintained even after removing the voltage. The direction of polarization can he turned over by applying a voltage in the opposite direction. Accordingly, the ferroelectric capacitor 2 is able to store data under nonvolatile conditions.
When reading out the stored data from the capacitor, a certain voltage is applied to the ferroelectric capacitor 2. Upon applying the voltage to the ferroelectric capacitor 2, memorized polarization can be known by detecting whether the polarization turns over or not. In other words, memorized polarization can be known by detecting a current which flows by turning over the polarization. Since the memorized polarization is changed (i.e. stored data is erased) when read out the data from the ferroelectric capacitor 2, the same data (as the stored data) is written into the ferroelectric capacitor immediately after reading to maintain the polarization direction.
Furthermore, another nonvolatile memory device utilized ferroelectric capacitors consisting of 2 ferroelectric capacitors and 2 transistors is proposed (disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,664).
However, the above mentioned nonvolatile memory devices have following issues to resolve.
First, the memory device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,733 requires 2 transistors besides the ferroelectric capacitor for each cell. Therefore, the structure of the memory device is complicated. In the meantime, the memory device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,664 requires 2 transistors and 2 ferroelectric capacitors for each cell, so that construction of the device is very complex.
Further, since the stored data in the ferroelectric capacitor is erased when reading out the data as described above, the same data (as the stored data) must be re-written into the capacitor, so that control of the read operation is very complex.